And the BAFTA goes to
As this year’s BAFTAs nominations are announced, the snubs and surprises abound once more. There’s a lot to sift through and plenty to disagree with – here’s where Storyboard Editor Ella Kemp lands on it all.
There are a few certainties in this life: birth, death, disappointment throughout awards season. But we still come back to it every year, don’t we? And this year is no different – the BAFTAs are back, taking place next month, with a weird and wonderful batch of nominations.
But of course, I have something to say about it – amidst all the love for Dune, none for Spencer, a premature victory for Gaga and some question marks around all those rising stars, here’s what I truly believe should win, and what inevitably will.
BEST FILM
Will Win: Belfast
Should Win: The Power of the Dog
Kenneth Branagh is immensely well-intentioned and his personal memoir Belfast is sure to please more than a few crowds – but films like The Power of the Dog are just so rare. Jane Campion’s brooding Western tackles masculinity and rage in simmering ways that transcend genres and nations. There is simply nobody doing it better.
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Will Win: Last Night in Soho
Should Win: Ali & Ava
Awards ceremonies tend to favour flashy performances and technical marvels over more restrained impressive stories – so Edgar Wright’s uber-stylish nostalgia trip Last Night in Soho could be in with a better chance than the thoughtful Bradford-set romance Ali & Ava. But if the voters see the light and let themselves follow their hearts, Clio Barnard will take home this one.
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Will Win: Boiling Point
Should Win: The Harder They Fall
Phili Barantini’s kitchen nightmare Boiling Point would be a worthy win for almost any category, but the ambition and sheer power in Jeymes Samuel’s revisionary Western The Harder They Fall deserves endless praise. It might miss the mark simply because of how un-British it is, but I’m still holding out hope.
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Will Win: Drive My Car
Should Win: The Worst Person in the World
The award for Best Film Not in the English Language should simply go to the best film in that category regardless of language – and The Worst Person of the World is, hands down, any language, the best film of this year. So it’s a no-brainer – but Hamaguchi’s wise, meditative three-hour odyssey has been impressing across the board so could quietly steal the show.
DOCUMENTARY
Will Win: Cow
Should Win: Summer of Soul (Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
What if there was a cow? Andrea Arnold’s bovine slice of life is undebatable as a marvel of fly-on-the-wall filmmaking, but Questlove’s ode to the Harlem Cultural Festival is like a bolt of lightning to the system. It’s a resurrection of the momentous event history forgot, a celebration of music and Black culture and, quite simply, joyous from start to finish. Sorry Luma.
ANIMATED FILM
Will Win: Encanto
Should Win: The Mitchells vs the Machines
Does anyone else really ever have a chance when Disney decide they’re back?
DIRECTOR
Will Win: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Should Win: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
If there is any justice in the world, this should be an easy win for Campion – but the nagging feeling that a proper curveball could swoop in here won’t quit. Still, these are glorious nominations, with Audrey Diwan and Julia Ducournau making history as two French women make the cut for the first time in 75 years. Hopefully history will start setting the past right, recognising when women can and do tell stories about men with breathtaking clarity – but you never know.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Will Win: Don’t Look Up
Should Win: Licorice Pizza
Adam McKay loves to tell jokes about how the world is going to end. The satirist and filmmaker gifted the world an eye-watering cast and a deeply depressing comedy about the climate crisis which ends in apocalypse with Don’t Look Up. It could win because of how topical it is, but a nicer, fairer shout would be to reward Paul Thomas Anderson’s thoughtful and tender and uplifting coming-of-ager Licorice Pizza. Wishful thinking.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Will Win: Drive My Car
Should Win: The Lost Daughter
Another category where there really is no wrong answer, Hamaguchi’s Murakami adaptation makes a lot of sense, but the tremendous Maggie Gyllenhaal made her feature debut as director with her take on the beloved Elena Ferrante story, a tale of messy motherhood and ugly womanhood. It’s a more difficult beast, but infinitely more rewarding.
LEADING ACTRESS
Will Win: Lady Gaga, House of Gucci
Should Win: Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World
In quite a shocking turn of events where neither Olivia Colman nor Kristen Stewart have been nominated, it’s all up for grabs here. The sheer power of Lady Gaga’s fame might see her take home the gold for her flamboyant turn as Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, but Renate Reinsve’s luminous, lived-in performance as a woman so empathetic and charming and complex deserves this more than anyone. Again, it would be a major swing for turning tides.
LEADING ACTOR
Will Win: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Should Win: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
It’s hard to imagine anyone making a compelling case for any other result. Cumberbatch’s turn as terse and tense rancher Phil Burbank is both evil and majestic, a simmering performance that knows masculinity is toxic and repressed but also unpredictable. It’s subtle yet grandiose, utterly hypnotic. There’s no other choice.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Will Win: Caitríona Balfe, Belfast
Should Win: Ruth Negga, Passing
Rebecca Hall’s beautiful film Passing suffered by simply being released so long ago, but Ruth Negga’s performance is so vibrant and mercurcial that it should stand the test of time. She’s channelling Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby and is a marvel to watch – Balfe is certainly moving in parts in Belfast, but they’re leagues apart.
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Will Win: Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog
Should Win: Mike Faist, West Side Story
There was much to discuss at the end of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake, but the most pressing question was, no doubt, who the hell is Mike Faist? The actor cut his teeth in the Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen but is sensational as Riff in Spielberg’s glorious remake. Smit-McPhee has been winning across the board for his moody performance as the dangerous and elegant Peter, as he should, but this will be a tight race.
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